Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 47, no. 1195: February 7, 1891

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Record and Guide. - Ui.n.\f 187 miidipi. '^' \ ESTABUSHED^ff^CH2|ii'*'IB6e.;^ De/oTEDTO R£\L EsVME euiLOlf/C AllpKlTECTUI^E.K0US£H0lDDl0OVrWI*. BiisiiJEss Alto Themes or GeHeraL1j>(tefie5t PRICE, PER TEAR IN ADVANCE, SIX DOLLARS, Punished every Saturday. Telephone, . - - Cortlandt 1370. Cononmnlcations should be addressed to C.W. SWEET, 191 Broadway. J. T. LINDSEY, Business Manager. Vol. XLVII, FEBRUARY 7, 1891. No. 1,195 THE trip of Mr. Gould and his party over the Terminal system bas given risa to much curious speculation as to the possible consequences of a closer alliance between the Missouri Pacific and tbe various corporations contiollf'd by Inman, Brice and Thomas. Mr. Gould is already known as a bolder of a sufficient amount of Terminal stock to have representation on the directory of that I'Oad, and the possibility of a closer alliance is said to be regarded with some uneasiness by the Pennsylvania management. There has, however, been so much talk about tbis sort of thing in the past tbat Wall street very naturally takes the whole matter very sceptically. Whatever may be the real outcome of tbe matter, or the real purpose of Mr. Gould in thus ostentatiously associating himself with the Terminal people, we may b& yuite sure that this adroit financier will not allow the public any information until be has fully eompleted hia plaus. The process of consolidation has received a further advance during the past week by the traffic alliance between the Alton and the Mobile and Ohio Railway. Earn¬ ings for the month of January are coming iu very strong—so strong, indeed, as to warrant the expectations that the higher rates will fully make up for the loss iu traffic. The fact that traffic is becoming smaller is indicated by the discharges of trainmen, which are taking place throughout the West. Prices have been strong throughout the week ; and there is every expectation tliat they will continue so, for money remains easy, and is not likely to grow tight for some time to come. The Alliance movement has put an effectual stop to any further investments for the time being in Western farm mortgages; and the money which has been going out in that direction will be deflected into channels (hat bear a closer relation to the stock market. There is one encouraging symptom which observers in Wall street unite in asserting, viz., that there are very few stocks on the present market, and that much larger quantities are not likely to come out until a higher range of values is established. It should be remembered, also, that the Union Pacific Funding Bill wil! probably be considered by the Senate shortly. Altogether the iron market appears to be about the only cloud to present prospects. THERE are few signs of auy great present or prospective activity in the European markets. Speculation is reported dull, both in Great Britain and on the Continent. Investors are ner¬ vous, because of the precarious state of affairs in South America; and the political disturbances in Spain and Portugal have further aided tocreate uneasiness, particularly in Paris. Plenty of money ia still obtainable, and very little fear for the future exists in thia respect; but this haa not helped to revive speculation. A slightly better feeling exists concerning the Argentine securities, princi¬ pally because President Pellegrini has taken a firm stand at the extraordinary session of Congress, has accepted the terms oSered by the Rothschild committee, and has proposed new taxes (sorae of them, perhaps, unwise) to meet the exigencies of the situ¬ ation. A favorable in?pression has also been created by the Russian budget for 1891, which is framed so as to show a small surplus of revenue over what is classed as the ordinary expenditure. Fur¬ thermore, the figures given as to the result of the yeara 1S89 and 1890 show a great improvement in the financial condition of the country, largely due to the exceptionally favorable harvests of 1887 and 1888. The yields for 18B9 and 1890 have not been by any means so good—a fact that has caused some modification as to prospects otherwise favorable. Russia is entering into large expen¬ ditures for railroad and harbor improvements, tbe money for which she has borrowed ; and these are expected to prove of the greatest assistf.nce to her commercial development. The Revenue and Agricultural Department of the government of India has issued reports as to the forthcoming cotton crop—which, it is supposed, will neither be as large in quantity or as good in quality as that of last year. A feature of the French budget for 1892, which is now in preparation, will be the promised reduction of one-half the rail¬ way duty on passengers and parcels—a measure tbat will involve the execution of an article of the railway conventions of 1883, by which tbe companies engaged tn reduce all second-clase fares 10 per cent and third-class 20 per cent, should the government abolish the surtax created in 1871, when the railway duty was raised frona 10 to 20 per cent. A WELL-KNOWN humorist in telling a story about an omniv- -^^^ oroiis panther has been wont to embellish his tale with the remark that this panther waa called Jay Gould, because he " took everything in." This characteristic of Mr. Gould's has been dis¬ played once more during the past week by the practical consolida¬ tion of the Suburban Rapid Transit and the Manhattan companies. It is true that this consolidation has always existed in fact, since the money to build the Suburban Rapid Transit road was largely advanced by the Manhattan people ; but the absorption is now for¬ mally made ; and New Yorkers may begin to see what a firm gi-asp Mr. Gould has on the rapid transit of the city. It must not be forgotten, also, that he and his associates are largely interested in the New York and Northern; and we may reason from analogy that, if there is any future rapid transit system to be built, that the people, who have $50,000,000 or more already invested in facilities that be, are not likely to remain solemnly acquiescent while another corporation constructs a road that will compete for a certain if not altogether definite share of the business. It is true that the New York Central magnates have an interest in the matter also; and it is equally true that Austin Corbin has put forward a scheme to annex New York's transit facilities to Long Island and the Long Island Railroad Company but when we have mentioned these three interests we believe that we have stated about all the possible sources, with the possible exception of Mr. Wiman, from which any future ayatera will flow. What division will be made, and how many parties there will be to the division, we do not pretend to know ; but experience and reasoning from probabilities amply justify the assurance that little or nothing can be done without the co-operation of theae interests, and that either primarily or eventually, or ostensibly or really, some of them, or one of them, or all of them, will have a large finger in any future rapid transit pie. We observe that (Commis¬ sioner Steinway still chnga to the idea that a separate company will have to be formed to construct and operate every wew individual liue that will be built. Corporations, however, are as easily controlled as they.are organized ; and we do not believe ifc to be desirable, even if it were possible, to have our facilities divided among a number of divergent companies. If competition did result it would be followed by consolidation. Rapid transit in tJiis city must be a unit; and the Legislatui-e or the local authorities can protect ns against any unfair treatment on the part of our common carrier. THE formal consolidation of the Suburban Rapid Transit and the Manhattan companies, taken together with the avowed inten¬ tion of the management of the former to extend rts tracks to Ford¬ ham, obviously means that the Manhattan Company is going to concentrate all its energies, just now, on cultivating the suburban business. The third track on the 3d avenue line, which is now in condition, wiil be used for thia purpose; and the step will doubtless be accompanied by a similar attempt to improve the service on the West Side and along the line of the New York and Northern. How far the Rapid Transit Commissioners will be disposed to assist in this work has not as yet definitely transpired; but we cannot believe that they will offer auy insuperable objections, of which more anon. Tlie Sheard amendment exempts Battery Park from the operations of the act, which, as we pointed out last week, leaves Battery Park in just exactly the same position as it was before the Legislature began legislating. The authority to extend the facili¬ ties still rests with the Park Commissioners, and the dispute which some thought to be over has heen but scarcely begun. It is stated, on good authority, that no extension of privileges to the elevated roads will be authorized, until an underground system has been given an opportunity; and that only in case the capital is not forthcoming for the constiiic- tion of the sub-surface system will recourse be had to the elevated system. If the commission is to display such a spirit as this we doubt whether they will successfully accomplish tbeir difficult task. There is nothing at all to be gained by making an improvement of the present facilities contingent on an unsuccessful attempt to construct an underground system, and a great deal may be lost, for it will give Jay Gould a direct interest in preventing the investment of capital in any new scheme. The reason—we were going to say the only reason, but very cer¬ tainly the principal reason—for permitting the Manhattan Com¬ pany to improve its service is the pressing urgency for some such improvement. People will confuse this with the permanent and adequate system which we also need and which we shall doubtless get in some fashion or another at some time or another. And such a confusion will do so much to injure both the present and the future of this city that we doubt if much real progress in this direction can be made until it is cleared up. If a little common